5 Of The World’s Drool Worthy Food Markets

Food is life’s greatest pleasure, one can never get full –Trust me friend you can eat, and eat, and eat but nothing can fill that void ~ Brad Pitt to Joey in F.R.I.E.N.D.S– or enough. Whether traveling locally or internationally our biggest finding would be a delicious restaurant serving traditional food at affordable prices, and if not affordable one can never feel bad after spending too much on a mouth-watering meal…prove me wrong!

Italian Food

Have you ever obsessed over a taste? Truth is, some foods get our taste buds tingling, invoking a sense of nostalgia taking us to the places where we once have been, and had great memories cataloged in our hearts, minds, and mouths.

Lebanese Food

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might better stay home. ~James A. Michener

So feast your senses with one of our recommended 5 drool-worthy food markets around the world.

Woodstock’s Saturday Market – Cape Town

Photo courtesy: The Old Biscuit Mill’s Facebook Page

Probably the best food market you will ever stumble upon, this is where you will fall in love with food at the very first bite, it is no surprise as talented people and local artisans bring in their own flavors from all corners of the world to sell, well to show off the heart-felt passion for cooking -they are carefully selected upon certain criteria. You’d be amazed at the food options; from traditional Italian pizzas and Argentinian grills & burgers to Thai dumplings, Belgian waffles, and much more. Deciding what to munch, or when to stop eating will give you the most challenging time of all. This Market is outdoors, also known as the Old Biscuit Mill as its location is inside an old biscuit mill.

When I was there I took a quick tour to pick something to eat, came out 15 minutes later overwhelmed, asking my friend: are you kidding me? do you expect me to choose from this insane variety? I don’t know what am I going to eat? or from where I should start?

Mercado de San Miguel – Madrid

View from outside by: Richard Whitaker

Located at the heart of Madrid’s old quarter, a place to enjoy good shopping, impressive architecture and atmosphere. What’s special about it is; though the market is inside a historical building, yet it’s glass-walled so you wouldn’t disconnect or miss the outdoors feel. The market is very traditional, and has long pretty convenient opening hours, you’d easily find all sorts of Spanish local delicacies to savor.

Camden Town Food Stalls – London

That’s my burritto served with non-alcoholic ginger beer

Only a 10 minutes walk from London Zoo is not just a food market -basically food stalls-, but a whole different experience in one of London‘s hippiest parts; Camden Town. The minute you step in you’d see punks, shops quirk-ly decorated, and weird stuff offered for sale. But that’s not it, the further you walk the more you will discover more interesting stuff, the most thrilling of all are food stalls. You can go Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Turkish, you name it! Make sure to enjoy your meal while sitting by the water, even better on one of the scooters like seats.

Food Court at Camden Town (photo by Passainte Assem)

Jemaa Al Fna Food Stalls – Marrakesh

When: Everyday

Must eats: Snails only served at night, and Fish Sandwiches during the day.

An Agrabah like market -the market featured in Disney’s Aladdin-, is a cacophony of merchants, street performers, food stalls, street games, and street gambling.Do not completely freak out if a snake or a monkey charmer threw a snake on your shoulders, or a monkey to be photographed with.

Snake Charmer at Jmaa Al-Fna by flat.luxury

It’s crazy, and overwhelming in every aspect, yet entertaining, don’t sweat it, and keep going. Visiting by day is an experience, but visiting by night is a totally different one, so make sure to visit in both times. Pickpockets are everywhere, be extra cautious specially when you are taking part of a crowd to watch a “happening”, and beware if you take out your camera anyone you photograph including animals expects to get paid -not exaggerating. Make sure to stop at one of the food stalls to savor some Moroccan goodies, that’s the ultimate street food experience.

Snails at Jemaa Al Fna by Evgeni Zotov

Always remember that even the shoddiest, and quirkiest places can also have the best food you’d ever treat your taste buds to.

Bretzels displayed at the Farmer’s Market by Anna Clarice

A typical local artisans European open-air food market, specially loved by locals, you must see it during lunch time when people are in a hurry, yet queuing, waiting for their lunch meal to be served; it could be Flammkuchen -the German version of Pizza-, or an original Frankfurter, salad, or fish sandwiches. People are never seated, they are usually in a haste shoving food into their mouths from paper plates. Konstablerwache Farmer’s Market is also the best stop to snack while shopping at My Zeil –Frankfurt‘s shopping hub.

Frankfurter sandwich by Silke

Have you been to any of those? Or can recommend better places? Tell us what’s your favorite cuisine, and share with us your thoughts and ideas in the comments below…